Feed Me
by domina tempore
Summary: Tag to "The Queen". Even after she's been returned to normal, Teyla's transformation has some interesting side effects.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Just a quicky while I wait for inspiration to set in... LOL ;) Something that I noticed at the end of "The Queen"... Title's a little cheesy, sorry._

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**Feed Me**

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Teyla was glad to finally be out of the infirmary and back to herself. Although, she had to admit that it was odd not to have her body be the image of a queen anymore. It was odd to be just Teyla again. She would not say that she had enjoyed her time as a wraith-- indeed, it had been a constant struggle not to kill those who followed her simply for being wraith--- but she had gotten used to it; she had grown comfortable in her role as an absolute, unquestioned ruler. She sometimes caught herself about to snap an order at someone; and there had been times where she hadn't caught it. But it was more difficult than one would assume, returning to her normal life as simply one of Sheppard's team, merely a mother to one instead of thousands.

Her team-mates noticed her tension, and John suggested that they spar or something; he thought that maybe he'd be able to "kick her butt" for a change, now that she was so long out of practice. She was grateful for his offer, and soon found herself in the gym, facing off against her team leader with a lazy smile on her face. She was slightly out of practice, yes; but she was sure that she could beat him.

John, it seemed, had become more practiced in the time that she had been out of commission--- an advancement she contributed to Ronon's teaching--- and she was surprised to find him holding his own. But she was still certain that she could beat him; after all, she was the master here; and she had just spent several weeks as a queen! She was the stronger one here.

With those things in mind she continued; and so was quite surprised when he scored a painful hit.

Enraged that he had dared to strike HER--- Teyla, a queen!--- she lunged at him, intensifying her attack until she had backed him into a wall and knocked his weapons away. From the look on his face, she guessed that he was relieving the moment several years ago when he had done this to her; but there was going to be a different ending here.

"Teyla..." he began warningly, thinking that he knew what was coming. But instead of kissing him, as he had done to her so long ago, she dropped her rods, grabbing his throat with one hand and raising the other one to bring down upon his chest--- to feed!

John managed to catch her hand before she thrust it into his chest, and in another surprising show of skill, he used the force of her movements to twist her around and free himself. A second later she felt her head slam into the wall, and everything exploded into a shower of sparks that faded into blackness....

John watched her fall, slightly horrified that he had had to knock her out that way but knowing that he'd had no other options. He could see it in her eyes, something had happened; and he had a feeling were she not unconscious now one of them would be dead.

Breathing heavily, his hands shaking, he fumbled in his bag for his radio, and hooked it on his ear.

"Sheppard to infirmary," he said. "There's something wrong with Teyla..."

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_A/N: I don't know, does this intrest you? It's been floating around in my head for a while; tell me what you think, and if I should go on; and where you would like to see me take it. I'm opened for suggestions here..._


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: So here's the next chapter... I had originally planned to make this story a one-shot, but I ended the last chapter wrong for that, and now I realize that it's on the verge of turning into something way more that expected... so we'll see how it goes._

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**Unsatisfied**

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Teyla came slowly awake to the steady, rhythmic beeping of machines that could only mean that she was in the infirmary. It took surprising effort to force her heavy eyelids opened; sbut her entire body felt stiff and sluggish, like she had been drugged. And maybe she had; she had no idea how she had gotten here.

"Hello?" she whispered softly, giving up on opening her eyes. She heard movement, and a second later a warm, calloused hand grasped hers. The familiar touch made her smile as she recognized Ronon.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"What happened?" she questioned, not bothering to answer him. A sudden fear gripped her heart. "Is Torren alright?"

"He's fine," her friend assured her. "Kanaan had him in to see you a while ago, but it's late, and he fell asleep. They went back to your room about fifteen minutes ago." Teyla relaxed a little to know that her family was safe.

"What happened?" she asked again.

"Don't you remember?" he asked.

"No." He hesitated, and she heard him sigh; a sound that she associated with something very bad. "Ronon, tell me."

"You attacked John in the gym," he said quietly. She could practically hear him cringing as he continued. "And you tried to feed on him."

Her eyes flew opened.

"Is he alright?" Ronon nodded.

"His throat's a little bruised, but he's fine." He paused. "You seriously don't remember doing that?" A worried frown creased her forehead as she tried to think.

"I don't remember _anything_," she said uneasily. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday," Ronon said. "He had to knock you out. And the doctors have kept you under until now trying to figure out what happened and why." He didn't tell her that they were also afraid that she would act that way again when she woke up. She didn't need to feel worse about what had happened.

Teyla leaned back against her pillows and closed her eyes again, filled with shame over what she could not remember doing.

"Why would something like this happen?" she questioned Ronon, wishing that he knew the answer. "We merely changed my appearance; I was never truly a wraith, and I could never feed. Why would such a thing suddenly seem so _right_?"

"I don't know," he shrugged helplessly. "But I do know that the wraith... they do weird things to you. Bad things. And sometimes it's enough to change you."

"But I'm _not _changed!" she protested. "I am still Teyla, I am everything that I have always been. I am not a wraith."

"No, you're not," he soothed her gently. "But they may have done something to you while you were there that you didn't know about; something that's only started to affect you now." He held her gaze. "Teyla, I don't believe that any of this is your fault." She was grateful for his words, but she did not believe them. She _should _have been able to control herself. And if he was right and the wraith _were _doing this to her, she should have known that too. And of all people, she had hurt John...

"Where is John?" she asked, really noticing for the first time that other than Ronon she was alone. Somehow, she had just assumed that her team would be there when she woke up.

"Keller made him go to bed, same time Kanaan left with Torren. And McKay took her off somewhere to talk. So I'm the welcoming committee." She managed a weak smile at his joke, and he could see that she was still tired.

"You should rest now," he advised her, dimming the lights a little further. "One of us will be here when you wake up; and by then Jennifer will probably have this whole thing figured out and fixed. There's nothing to worry about." He squeezed her hand gently. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she murmured, before sleep overtook her once again. Ronon smiled sadly at her as he left, feeling like nothing so much as a younger brother watching his sister get sick. He wished that he could have been as sure as he'd tried to sound when he promised that they would figure out what was wrong. But the doctors had no idea, and he doubted that they would figure it out within the next few hours. But he couldn't stand to leave her afraid.

He left in search of John, sending a nurse in to sit with Teyla. He knew that his team-leader would not be sleeping like the doctor had ordered; so he figured that he might as well go try and tell him that for the moment, Teyla was okay. He had always suspected that the Colonel had feeling for their female team-mate, even though she had a family now. Still, it wouldn't hurt him to stop worrying for half a second.

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_A/N: Sorry, not much action here. But like I said, this was originally an idea for a one-shot, so I'm still working out the kinks in my contract with the plot bunnies that wrought it. Next chapter should be soon. :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: More... ;) With just a little bit of whumpage :D I was really inspired today._

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far; please continue your interest and comments with this next chapter ;)_

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**Hunger**

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When Teyla woke up again, her family and her whole team--- which meant almost the same thing to her--- were there, along with Dr. Keller and Mr. Woolsey, and another face that she had not expected to see...

"Dr. Beckett!"

"Aye, love. How are you feeling?"

"When did you get back?" she asked, struggling to push herself into a sitting position. Instantly there were hands at her back, helping to ease her up.

"Last night while you were still sleeping. How are you feeling?" he asked again.

"Fine," she said, looking around distractedly at everyone's concerned faces. "A little... disoriented, but fine." she paused, cocking her head to the side. "And hungry." Worried glanced were thrown around, but Teyla didn't take time to worry about him; she was busy reaching out her arms to her son, who was trying to leap out of her husband's arms and into hers. The baby gurgled happily as he succeeded, and snuggled into her chest contentedly as conversation resumed.

"What do you remember?" Mr. Woolsey asked her. She looked up at him.

"I remember... being on my way to the gym, to spar. And waking up here."

"You remember _nothing _in between that?" She shook her head nervously, trying to remember what she and Ronon had talked about the last time that she had woken up.

"What did I do?" she asked.

"You tried to feed on me," John said. She gasped, her conversation with Ronon coming back to her, but not the memory of what she did.

"Oh, John, I am _so _sorry-"

"Hey, it's okay. I know that you didn't mean it." She shook her head.

"I should never have even considered something like that."

"But you say that you don't remember anything?" Jennifer asked. Teyla shook her head.

"Nothing. I don't even remember actually being in the gym..." her forehead creased with a worried frown. "What is happening to me?"

"We're not sure yet," Dr. Keller said. "But we're going to figure it out, don't worry."

"And how long must I remain here."

"Well, for now you seem fine..." she glanced at Dr. Beckett, who nodded. "I guess that you can go today, as long as you promise to check in every hour."

"Of course," she promised.

"Are you sure that this is agood idea?" Mr. Woolsey murmured to the doctor as Teyla went into the next room to get dressed. "I mean, you said yourself that you have no idea what made her act like she did; and you have no guarentee that it won't happen again."

"Making her feel trapped is NOT the best thing for her, if we want to supress whatever it was that made her attack Colonel Sheppard. We want her to feel safe, not confined."

"But simply letting her leave...?"

"She will be with her team or her family all day; if she gets violent again, one of them will be there to stop her."

"Or get hurt by her." Dr. Beckett sighed tightly.

"Look," he said. "I know that we could be dealing with something very dangerous here; but I also know Teyla; and I trust her to be able to keep whatever it is that made her think she was a queen from going too far. She hesitated long enough for Colonel Sheppard to defend himself."

"I just don't want to see anyone get hurt," Woolsey said, glancing at everyone in the room. His eyes settled on Torren-John. "Especially the baby."

"From my experience, what you love the most keeps you the most grounded," Carson told him. "She will never let any harm come to her child."

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Teyla's friends took her down to the mess hall, remembering that she had said she was hungry. Whether by design or not, lunch that day was all of her favorites, and she dug in whole-heartedly. Her friends watched, a little surprised, as she ate McKay sized servings instead of the small portions that she normally took.

Kanaan and Torren joined them for a little while, but the kid started to get tired and whiny, rubbing his eyes tiredly. After bidding each of them goodbye, Kanaan took him back to their quarters, knowing that Teyla wanted to spend some time with her friends.

"You full yet?" Rodney asked after a while; he and the others had long since finished their meals, and were only still there to keep Teyla company.

"Oddly, no," she said, taking a bite of pumpkin pie topped with a huge curl of whipped cream. "I do not remember ever feeling this hungry before."

"Don't make yourself sick," Sheppard cautioned you. "I doubt that it's going to be much fun trying to take care of Torren when you need to throw up every five minutes."

"I did it for the nine months before he was born," she reminded him jokingly. "I think that his father would be able to handle him for a fe more days." They talked for another few minutes until she had finished what was on her tray, and she got up to get more.

"That's it, we're cutting you off," Ronon teased, taking her arm. Her head whipped around, and her eyes took on a strange, wild light. John recognized that look from the other day in the gym.

"Teyla..." he began. But she ignored him completely, every fiber of her being focused on Ronon.

"You dare to lay a hand on your queen?" she demanded, her voice buliding into a roar that turned heads all over the room. He cringed; it was too late. This was not going to end well.

"Ronon, maybe you should let her go," Rodney said nervously from his seat on the other side of the table. But the Ronon ignored him, meeting the Athosian's flaming eyes.

"I can't do that, Rodney," he said slowly. "We need to take her to the infirmary, so that the doc's can figure out what's going on with her."

"Release me!" Teyla demanded, her voice taking on a frightening, not quite human quality.

"No, you need to go see Dr. Beckett."

"How _dare _you defy me?!" she thundered, before striking out at her Satedan friend. Everyone in the mess hall was silent as they watched, all thoroughly scared now. This was not the Teyla that they knew.

Teyla was fast and deadly, but Ronon was bigger. Brute force saved him from her blow as he used his grip on her arm to turn her around. He twisted her arm up behind her back, and caught the other one as she tried to punch him in the face. Finally he had her in his grip, but she twisted hard against him. He cringed as her heard a telltale snap, and felt one of the bones in her wrist break. But still he didn't let her go. He used the force of her struggles to guide her towards the infirmary. But only a few steps from the mess hall door she stopped struggling, and collapsed in his arms, unconscious. It had all taken under twenty seconds.

He lowered her gently to the ground, heedless of the traffic flow towards the mess hall, and stayed with her until the doctors that their team-mates had called reached them, and got ehr on a stretcher and took her away again, telling him to wait there. John and Rodney joined them in the hall.

"You alright?" John asked. Ronon nodded, not bothering to look at his friend. He was too busy trying to shake the lingering sensation that only pure luck had let him overpower her; the sensation that he really _had _been fighting a wraith queen.

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_A/N: So there you go; a little Carson, a little action, a little whump. More soon. :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: I'm really surprised and pleased at the interest with this story; I hope that it carries on for further chapters and that I don't disappoint you!_

_Thank you to all who have reviewed so far! (sakurablue13, Grannanatlanta, Robert1000, PeaceLily4ever, AthosionWarrior, Sam, and female'wraith...) I'm glad that you're all enjoying it! :D_

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**Craving**

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Dr. Beckett pushed aside his notes and dropped his head into his hands. He had no idea how to help Teyla. He had found something in her that wasn't right; but it was only because of the countless times that he had run her blood-work that he had been able to even notice it. And he had no idea how... whatever it was in her blood could be effecting her so adversely.

"Hey," Jennifer sat down in the seat beside him and placed a steaming mug of coffee on his desk. "Dark Hazelnut, your favorite. Rodney told me that you'd probably need some around now." Carson smiled gratefully at her, thinking that Rodney couldn't have picked a nicer girl.

"Thank you, love." Keller nodded, and glanced at his discarded notes.

"Anything?" she asked. He shook his head sadly.

"I'm afraid not; whatever it is that's causing her to act this way, it's something that I've never seen or heard of; not even when I was working for Michael." He paused for a moment. "Do you think that Todd planned for this to happen?" he asked her. He knew that she had much more experience with the wraith than he.

"I wouldn't put it past him," she muttered, frowning. "But what could he possibly have to gain from giving Teyla wraith mood swings?"

"I have no idea," Carson said, sighing tiredly. "I suppose that if we can't figure it out, someone is going to have to ask him."

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John, Ronon, and Rodney sat with Kanaan in Teyla's private room off the infirmary. Dr. Keller had been kind enough to find a small bed for Torren, and the child slept peacefully while the adults continued their quiet vigil by their team-mate's side.

It was still a little hard for John to be with Kanaan. He knew that Teyla loved him, and so he tried for her; but in his mind, the man had gotten what he himself had taken too long to claim.

"Do the doctors know what's going on with her yet?" Rodney asked eventually, breaking the solomn silence that filled the room. John shrugged.

"Carson said that he found something weird in her blood; but he doesn't know what it is or how it's making her do what she's doing."

"But they will find out and fix it?" Kanaan asked.

"Yeah, they'll do it," he said, hoping that he was right.

"What do you think that she'll be like when she wakes up again?"

"Last time she was herself when she woke up," Ronon said. "She didn't remember anything about it."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell her anything when she wakes up," McKay suggested hesitantly. "Maybe if we just tell her that she fell and broke her wrist or something, and maybe hit her head, she won't go all nuts again."

"Lie to her?"

"If we're trying to keep her safe here, I think that we can make an exception to the "thou shalt not lie" rule."

"We can't lie to her about this," John said. "She needs to know, and hopefully that will keep her from putting herself in a place where someone could get hurt."

"She already did that," Ronon muttered quietly.

"We have to find a way to fix this."

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During the night, one by one, everyone waiting in Teyla's room had drifted off to sleep. They were awakened by Torren, crying for his mama. His cries soon woke her as well, but she seemed almost afraid to take her baby in her arms.

"Goodmorning, sunshine," John tried to tease. "How are you feeling?" her eyes looked terrified.

"You need to restrain me," she pleaded. The guys frowned at each other.

"Teyla, you're fine right now." she shook her head violently, her messy hair falling in her face.

"No, you need to do it," she insisted. "You need to make sure that I cannot hurt anyone."

"Do you remember what happened?" Ronon asked cautiously.

"Not exactly," she admitted. "Only how I felt, and that it was bad. But you must restrain me before it happens again." The look on her face nearly broke her heart. "And keep Torren away."

"Teyla..."

"I am hungry!" she screamed, making them jump. Torren started to cry. "I cannot satisfy it, and I cannot fight it. I need to feed."

"And what happens if you don't?" Rodney asked. "I mean, you're human; you can't die from not feeding... right?" Teyla's eyes and voice were urget.

"Restrain me, and get out," she ordered. "I can feel it coming." They hesitated for about half a second.

"Do it!" John snapped, and Ronon jumped into action, securing tight bands around her wrists as best he could with the cast, binding her to the bed that she was lying in.

"Now get out!" she repeated, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I remember now, and you can't be here. I-" whatever she had meant to say was cut off as her body began to convulse on the bed, and her eyes took on a freakish light that they associated with the wraith.

They hated to leave her there, but with her last bit of herself that remained she screamed at them again to leave, and this time they obeyed, sealing the door behind them.

"How long will this continue?" Kanaan asked, still trying to comfort his tearful son.

"I don't know," John said. "But I'm guessing that we need to find an answer pretty darn fast."

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_A/N: I had some trouble with this chapter; it didn't come quite as easy as the last ones. But I know where I'm going with this fic now; and till then I hope you enjoy what I have so far! :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Here's where the wraith come in..._

_And thank you again for all of your lovely reviews! They are keeping me (and this story) alive! ;)_

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**Tea and a Chat**

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Teyla could not remember awakening so many times in such a short period in the infirmary, nor to so many different faces and stories each time. This time it was Doctor Beckett.

"How are you doing, love?" At least some questions never changed.

A tired frown creased her forehead.

"That last one was bad, wasn't it?" she asked, the exact details eluding her but the pain vividly etched in her memory.

"Aye, that it was," he said. He didn't tell her that she had been screaming the whole time, twisting and spasming like a wild thing. He didn't tell her that they had been unable to get near her to comfort her for fear that their presence would push her over the edge.

"I still feel it," she said softly, almost to herself. "The hunger. It is not as bad right now, but it is still there. Sooner or later I will need to feed or die." Carson sighed angrily.

"No matter what happens, unless we can fix this soon, someone is going to die." Teyla knew that he was right. But the last thing that she wanted was for the death to happen to someone here...

"I have to go," she said simply. Startled, the doctor took a moment to reply.

"No!" he said finally. "We're not giving up on you just yet."

"There is no other way," she said. "We have to find Todd, we need to know what he has done to me. Otherwise someone will die. And even if someone has to I would much prefer it to be him." She had a point.

"Do you think that you'll be able to keep control long enough to meet him?" he asked.

"I can do it," she said firmly. Then she gasped, and her eyes widened for a second.

"Easy, lass," Carson said slowly, worried. But after a few more gasping breaths, Teyla calmed down.

"It's alright," she said. "I am fine. But we need to hurry."

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Sheppard, Ronon, and McKay all sat suited up in the jumper, waiting for Teyla to arrive. It wasn't long before they heard her outside the jumper, talking to someone. It sounded like Kanaan, but they couldn't hear too well; and they all strained to listen while pretending not to.

"_...no, you must stay._"

"_I want to help you._"

"_If something happens to me, Torren will need you._"

"_Nothing is going to happen..._"

"_Stay and take care of him_." The rest of the conversation was spoken in voices too low to hear. A moment later, Teyla and Dr. Beckett entered the jumper. Teyla took her seat as usual, but had to shift awkwardly to accommodate her hands securely tied behind her, at her request. Her cast also made things difficult; but in unspoken agreement, no one commented. They knew why she was doing it; she would allow herself no chance to hurt them.

They never knew exactly how Woolsey had managed to scare up Todd on such short notice; but somehow he had. Their wraith ally--- they used that term very loosely--- had agreed to meet them on his ship, which they had agreed to only because that was where whatever had happened to Teyla had most likely happened; and could most likely be reversed.

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" John couldn't help but ask her. She turned weary, pained eyes to him; and that was reply enough. John kicked himself for his stupid question. Of course she didn't _want _to do it; she just knew that she had to.

"How are we going to get onto this hive undetected?" Carson asked after a few moments of very awkward silence. "I assume that his crew will not simply let us walk onto their ship for tea and a chat with him." John smiled grimly.

"I doubt it," he said. "He's going to meet us in the dart bay; supposedly he's ordered everyone out of the area where we'll be conducting our business."

"You don't think that he'll keep his word?"

"Would you?" The doctor closed his mouth.

The jumper surged through the gate, and cloaked immediately as they passed through on the other side, in the shadow of a hive.

"That's a bit close for comfort," McKay muttered. "But it looks like they didn't notice us."

"Good," John said, slowing their ship down and easing towards one of the dart bay doors. "This should be a piece of cake."

"Teyla," Ronon's voice made her turn. "I'm gonna untie you now; are you gonna be okay?" They had forced her to agree to be unbound on the hive; they had a feeling that it would be easier to deal with Todd if she appeared more in charge.

She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded once. Ronon needed no further urging, but took out a knife from somewhere and sliced through the restraints on her wrists as Sheppard landed.

"Okay," the Colonel said, rubbing his hands together nervously. "Lets go fix this." They all made their way to the back hatch of the jumper, and with weapons ready, they pushed the button that lowered it down. Todd was standing on the other side, smiling his creepy, toothy wraith smile. His grin widened when he caught the full view of them.

"Colonel Sheppard," he laughed amiably. "It is good to see you again."

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_A/N: So there you go. A little angst, a little Todd, I hope you like. I'll try to update as soon possible :)_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: It's really sad how much I'm enjoying thinking up these chapter names... ;)_

_Thanks to all those who reviewed! :D_

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**Dinner Date**

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"Colonel Sheppard, it is good to see you again," Todd said.

"I'm afraid that I can't say the same about you," Sheppard said. "It seems that a lot of problems have been going on lately; involving you."

"You certainly can't blame me if you have notoriously bad timing," he said, shaking his head with disapproval.

"Would you knock it off?" Instantly the wraith was all business.

"Why do you need me?" he asked. "You know that it is a great personal risk for you to come here; especially since this hive was so recently acquired--- thank you, Teyla--- and the crew still does not trust me completely."

"I'm crying for you," John said sarcastically. Todd frowned, growling a little, but his attention seemed mostly taken up by Teyla.

"Something has changed in you," he said thoughtfully. "That's very interesting..."

"What have you done to me?" she asked him, her voice cold and trembling with rage.

"Other than give you a chance to be a queen; to learn what it truly means to rule?" Teyla was obviously having a hard time keeping herself under control; her friends got the sense that she was barely restraining herself from strangling the wraith right then and there. Considering the difference in their sizes, that would have been something to watch.

"Why am I hungry?" Todd blinked, seeming genuinely surprised.

"Hungry?"

"Yes. I have eaten everything that I can; nothing satisfies me anymore. Why am I becoming like a wraith after my body has been returned to normal?"

"I've never heard of this happening in such a way before..." Todd was muttering, not paying attention to them anymore. "I have only seen wraith turn human; never the opposite way, and never females. I wonder..."

"You mean you didn't do this to her?" Carson asked. Todd shook his head regretfully.

"No, but I wish that I could take credit for it; it's really quite incredible."

"What is "it"?" Rodney asked, sounding nervous.

"When we transformed her for her... stewardship here, we only changed her body. Nothing but her appearance was touched. But something seems to have awakened the wraith genes in her; and they are starting to take over."

"What hat did you pull that story out of?" Sheppard asked, still not willing to trust him.

"It is not a deception, Colonel," Todd said distractedly, his eyes still focused on Teyla. "I can feel it in her."

"And you're _sure _that you didn't cause this?"

"I promise," he told them irritatedly. "But I think that I might have an idea of what did."

Suddenly, his body jerked and he blinked, a second before Teyla doubled over. This time, her change came must more quickly.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she shrieked, the wraith-like qualities heavy in her voice. "How dare you deny your queen her sustenance?!" Todd instantly grabbed her arm and started to tow her off. After a second of shock, her team followed.

"I'm sure that you would all prefer to stay here," Todd said, lengthening his stride a bit.

"I don't thinks so..." Ronon began.

"You don't have a choice," Todd said, passing through a doorway. "Besides, I doubt that you'll enjoy watching her at her first feeding." That startled them to a stop, and it gave Todd the time to activate the door. it closed between them, dropping a wall of hard, wide mesh in between them and their sobbing team-mate, who now seemed to be arguing with the part of her that thought she was a queen; as if she could not decide which one she really was. Her team-mates were furious.

"TEYLA!" But Todd pulled her around a corner, and out of sight.

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Todd took Teyla through the empty halls of his hive, unti they came to the cells and the cocoon area.

"Take your choice, my queen," he said, addressing the wraith part. And that part seemed to dominate, suppressing the sobs of her human part. She drew herself up to her full height and began to inspect the prisoners. She found a cocoon that seemed to interest her, and brushed stringy threads away from it's inhabitant's face.

"He is strong," she said, taking in the hard set of his features, even in unconsciousness. "I will enjoy this." She pulled back her hand--- the one that wasn't in a cast--- and felt the skin on her palm rip. She glanced at it to see a newly formed feeding slit, one that she was more than ready to use.

Just then the man awakened, and he glared at her defiantly.

"Go to-" he never got the last word out. Her hand slammed down onto his chest, and with a blood-curdling shriek that could be heard throughout the ship, she began to feed.

As soon as she began to feel his life seep into her, the _real _Teyla began to fight the wraith instincts again. When she saw what was happening she shrieked and tried to pull her hand away; but as if run on a will of it's own it held fast until she had absorbed every last bit of life from the man. Only when she had sucked him dry could she let him go; and she jerked her hand away from the corpse as if she had been burned. She turned unsteadily to Todd, feeling suddenly dizzy and disoriented and sick.

"What... what have you done to me?" she slurred.

"I did it to save your life," he said. "I made you feed." For possibly the first time in her life, Teyla fainted.

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_A/N: Eek, when I started this fic I wasn't expecting that. Please review with thoughts, comments, complements... angry letters... lol_


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Whew! I've left them in quite an interesting predicament, haven't I? And I have the oddest feeling that it's going to get worse before it gets better... lol. Please review, and a great big thanks to everyone who has! :D_

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**Cutting Teeth**

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Todd lifted Teyla's still form in his arms and carreied her towards what had recently been her quarters. He walked through the curtained doorway at the back of the main room into the bedchamber, laying her carefully on the richly quilted bed. He laughed to himself to think that the previous queen of this hive who did not sleep had chosen to keep such a human furnishing. But the amusement only lasted for a moment.

He paused before leaving the room to examine her left hand; the one where the feeder had opened.

"Extraordinary," he muttered, letting her hand drop back to her side. He lingered for a moment after, uncomfortable with the thought of leaving her alone there. He doubted that waking up in a queens quarters--- even if they _had _been hers at one point--- would do much to improve her disposition.

"I apologize," he murmured, searching through her tac vest for something to bind her hands. She was going to hate that even more; but he hoped that he would get back with Sheppard and his team before she woke up so that they could explain and calm her down.

Of course, how long he took was entirely dependent on whether or not they decided to shoot him first.

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"I am going to kill him," John said slowly, every word punctuated with anger. He was pacing around the tiny space by the door that Todd had closed on them; the one that Rodney was still trying to open.

"You know, pacing around and muttering like that isn't going to help," Rodney snapped at him. "And it's certainly not helping me concentrate!"

"If you would hurry up and get the door opened I wouldn't have to be pacing; I could be expending all of this nice pent up energy on breaking Todd's neck." Ronon grunted his approval of that plan. He and John were on the same page when it came to someone taking their team-mate; sudden instant death.

"Well at least do it quietly and not so close!" the scientist begged before turning back to the door. The two resumed their pacing with greater urgency. Dr. Beckett was the only one who wasn't moving. He was standing with his arms crossed, staring at the floor thoughtfully. He hadn't said a word since Teyla and Todd had disappeared; he had been replaying their short conversation with the wraith over in his mind.

"I think that he really was trying to save her life," he said finally. Everyone turned to him, staring at him like he was nuts.

"Excuse us if we disagree," McKay snapped, before turning back to the door again and recieving an electric shock. Thouroughly distracted now, he turned back to Dr. Beckett. "Alright, hurry up and explain why so that I can get back to work."

"Well, it was the way that he reacted to her when she got "hungry" again."

"What?"

"He jerked back, then rushed to take her away. But he reacted the second _before _she did; which makes me think that he saw it coming."

"Still, that doesn't have to mean anything."

"No, but there was also the strength of her change this time. I truly believe that she has gotten to the point where she must feed or die. Which would also explain why Todd brought her out so quickly; he said he was taking her to feed."

"But that's even worse!" John cried. "Do you know how she's going to _feel_ when she finds out that she actually had to feed on someone?!"

"Aye, I know, son. But what's done is done. All we can do now-" He broke off as Todd appeared at the door. Both John and Ronon immediately pointed their weapons at him when they saw that he was alone.

"What did you do to her?"

"Where's Teyla?" Rodney demanded, rising to his feet and stepping away from the door, afraid to be caught in whatever kind of battle his friends would soon engage in.

"She is in the quarters where she stayed on her last... visit. Carrying her back here would have been much more difficult than getting her into those rooms; and no one will go there without permission."

"Is she alright?"

"I believe that she will be... for a while at least. But I very much doubt that she will enjoy waking up in those quarters alone; so I would put your weapons away and follow me."

"I like the idea of killing you better," John said.

"Then how will you be able to reverse what is happening to her?"

"You said that you didn't know; as far as I'm comcerned, you're useless now."

"I said that I didn't _do _it, Sheppard; I never said that I didn't know. Besides, if you kill me then you will be caught; and my people will not be so merciful as I."

"I'll take my chances," Ronon muttered. Todd ignored him.

"I'd thank you to put your guns away and stay very quiet. I am going to open the door now."

"They won't shoot you," Carson said severly, pushing each of their guns down. "I promise." The hard mesh receded into the wall, and after about half a minute and not one gunshot, time seemed to unfreeze. Todd motioned to them with an impatient hand.

"Hurry!" he said, turning down a hallway and setting a pace that they had a hard time keeping up. They jogged to follow him down the hall.

They reached the chambers, and Todd sealed the door once they were all inside.

"You are safe for the moment," he said. "But soon we are going to have to find you more... permenant quarters."

"What do you mean?" Rodney asked nervously, as his team-mates eyes swept the room for Teyla.

"She is becoming a queen; until you are able to reverse what is happening, she will need to stay here, so that she can feed..."

"Do you know what that will do to her?" John demanded angrily. Todd hushed him quickly, glancing back towards a curtained door.

"Shh. You will be heard; and you may wake her."

"She's asleep?" Rodney asked , confused.

"She's unconscious," Todd explained. "The shock of her first feeding was a bit... overwhelming. Actually, I think that she over-reacted a little, even for your standards, but regardless, she fainted." he pasued. "Actually, I believe that she will wake up soon anyways; so Dr. Beckett, if you wouldn't mind coming to examine her while she is still asleep..." Carson followed Todd towards the curtained door, and Ronon and Rodney and John followed the doctor. Todd glared back at them.

"Just the doctor, please," he said.

"Why?" Ronon asked suspiciously.

"Because I trust the doctor not to over-react; and I'm afraid that I cannot say the same for you three."

"If this is some sort of trap..." Sheppard began.

"I assure you, this is not a trap, Colonel Sheppard. May I remind you that it was your people which went to such great lengths to reach me." he turned back to the doctor, and motioned him to follow him through the curtain.

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Carson stepped through the curtain, and blinked at the soft light that looked like it came from candles, in stark contrast to the sickly blue light usual to wraith ships. As his eyes adjusted he noticed Todd moving around, a slightly surprised look on his face, also. He walked a few steps forward, until his knees bumped into something firm. He looked down, and gasped again.

Teyla was laying on a bed, unconscious as Todd had said; but she was very different than the Teyla that had left them only a few moments before. The hand that was not covered by a cast was turned up, displaying a feeding slit. Her hair had grown long, reminding him of when they had first met. And her lips were stretched tight, parting a little to reveal the disgusting fangs of a wraith. He stared at her for a moment, then glanced up at Todd.

"I assume that this was not what you were expecting either?" the wraith asked. Beckett shook his head, his eyes wide and worried.

"No," he said. "This was not what I was expecting at all..."

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_A/N: Dun-dun-duuuuuuhhhh! Next chapter should be soon, please review._


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing! You guys are what's keeping ME hooked on this story when I should be working on my SAWS fic :P lol. So for all of you, here is more; and for Lone-ranger1, here is a bit of madness ;)_

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**Starve Me**

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"Teyla, love. Teyla, do you hear me?" She groaned and tried to cover her eyes with her hand, hitting herself in the head with her cast, which only served to pull her away from the peaceful darkness of unconsciousness.

"Carson...?" she mumbled, blinking blurry eyes at him until her vision cleared to an almost too-sharp quality. She focused, however, on the room around him. They were in a room that she knew well; a place that held cold, familiar memories...

She screamed suddenly, and sat straight up, banging herself with the cast again. She felt Carson grab her arms, and another pair of hands---these ones cold---gripped her shoulders and pushed her back down onto the bed. She saw Todd's face hovering above her own, and she screamed at him.

"What have you done to me?!" she demanded. "_Why_?!

"Teyla, calm down!" Carson tried frantically. "Calm down! He saved your life-"

"He made me feed!" she screamed, tears streaming unbidden from her eyes. "I took his life, I tortured him... _why _have you done this to me?!"

"I did not do this, Teyla," Todd told her. "I have no idea why you suddenly must feed."

"It did not happen until after you brought me here; and now _you _have made me feed." She had stopped struggling, and they'd released her. She rolled over onto her side and curled up, tears squeezing between her now-closed eyelids. "I killed him," she kept repeating.

Carson looked up at the team, who had forced their way in when she started to scream.

"She's in shock," he explained, before turning his back to them and trying to comfort her. But he had one more thing to say. "And if you're going to yell, don't do it in here." He knew them well. They went into the other room, Todd following to explain what was going on.

"Why is this happening to me?" Teyla moaned, still covering her eyes, which had turned to an unnerving yellow, like a cat's. "I never wanted to hurt anyone. I didn't want anyone to die."

"Sh, it's not your fault, lass," Carson assured her.

"It is," she argued, unable to accept his words. "I am the one who took his life; why couldn't you let me die?"

"Teyla, we're not going to let you die! We need you! _your son needs you_. You can't give up."

"Carson, I am becoming my worst nightmare! I am turning into a monster, you can't let me live.

"No, Teyla, you are not a monster; and we are going to figure this out. We are going to figure out how to get you back to normal."

"At what price?" she demanded. "How many more will have to die so that I can live?"

"Stop talking like that! You are not going to die, we are not going to let you. You _need _to live, so that you can go back to Torren. Don't forget about him. All of this is so that you can protect him, and so that he will not have to grow up without you. Don't give up." Teyla met his gaze with her slitted yellow eyes, but Carson didn't flinch. The mad fear and despair that had been in them lessened a little, and she looked more like herself; more human.

"For Torren?" she asked shakily. He nodded. For a long moment neither of them moved; finally, Teyla took the doctor's offered hand, and he helped her sit up. Teyla looked far from hopeful, still; but this time she was determined.

She was not going to go down without a fight.

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"What did you do to her?" Rodney demanded angrily of Todd, trying to wipe the image of her ashen, wraith-like features from his memory.

"Why fo you automatically assume that it was me?"

"It's really nothing but sentimentality that's kept you alive this long; that and the probability of you lying about not doing it to her," Sheppard said. "And even in the unlikely chance that you _didn't _cause whatever is happening to her, I have a feeling that you know how to fix it. So spill."

"I did not do this to her."

"Why don't we just kill him now, Sheppard?" Ronon questioned, switching the setting on his gun to "kill" and pressing it against Todd's head. The wraith laughed softly, deep in his throat.

"...I _also _said that I had an idea of what did cause it; which you'll never know if you shoot me." John gave Ronon a look that said that he wasn't happy, but the wraith was right. Growling, Ronon pushed the gun a little harder against Todd's temple, before jerking it away with an angry grunt.

"You'd better get her back to normal," he snarled, before stalking to the other side of the room and leaning against the wall, his gun still in his restless hands.

"Alright," Sheppard said to Todd, his tone a warning that he was losing patience. "What do you know that's important enough for me to have spared your life just now? Because I could always have Ronon shoot you anyways if I don't like what I hear." Todd hesitated for a second, taking a deep breath, and taking on an air that they recognized as his "story-telling" stance.

"Recently, I learned that one of my trusted followers was working on an... experiment; similar to what you did to the one that yo call Michael, except he was doing it backwards. He was trying to turn humans into wraith."

"You "learned" this?"

"It was done without my consent," Todd said, ignoring the implications of the statement. "We discovered it soon after Teyla left. But I realize now that during her brief time on MY hive, she may have become subject to the experiment without even realizing it."

"And you didn't think to _tell_ us this when you found out?" John asked, slowly raising his own weapon to aim more directly at Todd's chest.

"At the time he was discovered, I did not think anything of it. It was not she came onto this ship and I sensed her that I realized what he must have done."

"But that doesn't make sense!" Rodney said. "If that's the case, why wouldn't it have worked immediately; made her need to feed while she was still playing queen for you?"

"The... treatment has a very long incubation period. Actually, it has manifested itself rather differently in her than it did in any of his test subjects. It was, for the most part, a failed experiment..."

"But why isn'tit failing on her, then?" Rodney wondered. "Unless her wraith DNA made her generally more susceptible to the treatment."

"And her transformation must have made it even easier to bond," Sheppard realized.

"Why didn't Jennifer find it in her blood-work until a few days ago, then?" Rodney asked.

"Keller's had different blood work for her the whole time that she's known her, practically," Ronon spoke up from the back of the room. "She's never run it when it's normal, because it changed so much last year. She would never have even seen it unless she was looking."

"And Carson must have run all of ours a thousand times," Rodney finished. "So of course he would have seen it..."

"Aren't we missing the important bit here, guys?" Sheppard asked, before meeting Todd's eyes again. "Where is this wraith; and does can you get him to fix what's happening to her?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible; he's dead." Ronon's gun snapped back into position, level with the wraith's chest.

"You're saying that there's no way we can help her?" he asked.

"There was a reverse treatment," Todd said slowly. "But he sent it to another hive; I don't have it."

"Well can you _get _it?" John persisted, almost ready to let Ronon shoot him, or the wraith. Or both.

"I believe that I can," Todd said. "But I am not sure that she would even want it. There were a few test subjects who were successfully changed and turned back, but it is... painful."

"I really think that for this, she'd deal."

"Most of them died in the process," Todd warned. But they all just looked at him, trusting that Teyla was strong enough to get through that and determined to get her back to normal.

"And I'll need her help to get it from the other hive; they will only bargain with a queen."

"No!" McKay said immediately, before either Sheppard or Ronon could open their mouths. "That's what you said last time; and look where it got her! You almost got her killed."

"Where it got her?! She killed nearly a quarter of the crew sending them into a hopeless battle!"

"Find another way!" the scientist ordered him.

"There is no other way.

"Then no! You can't have her!"

"Rodney!" They all jerked around at the soft shout, and saw her emerge from behind the curtain, in full wraith-queen garb once again. Dr. Beckett was holding her arm gently, but she was standing tall, if a little shakily. She slowly blinked her cold yellow eyes at them.

"I will do it," she whispered, her voice trembling, but determined. "I will not feed on another innocent life again."

"It only be the two of us," Todd told her, not daring to hope. Very slowly, she nodded.

"I know."

"Teyla!" her friends protested, but she cut off their cries with merely a glance; and the very predatory feel of it unnerved them.

"I need to do it," she said. Todd grinned triumphantly, but it didn't last. Teyla pulled away from Carson and stepped up to the wraith, meeting his gaze with her flaming cold eyes.

"If you betray me again, I will make an exception to feed on you," she paused, as if to make sure that he understood. "And I believe that I will enjoy that."

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_A/N: Sorry that I didn't get this posted last night; turns out I was busy for most of the day, and I didn't get it done in time. And sorry, but I might not be able to continue this one for the next couple of days; my SAWS week (look at my profile) starts on Sunday, and I have a lot of work to do on that fic before then so that I can post it when I need to. But who knows? I might get lucky and get it done quick; and then you'll get more of this ;) lol. Don't worry, there will be more of this very soon; but maybe not for the next day or two. Until then, I hope that this chapters satisfies you and keeps your interest! :D_


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: Okay, sorry I took a little longer than normal on this one; as I said, I was working on SAWS, and I needed it to be up this week, so I've been busy. I hope that I've redeemed myself!_

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**Out To Dinner**

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Teyla left with Todd, after a brief, private word with her team. They boarded a small ship that Tod had apparently claimed as his own---in her service, of course---after she had taken over the alliance. Teyla was graceful and silent, but for some reason that bothered Todd as he guided the little ship out of the dart bay and engaged its hyperdrive---a useful feature that it's previous owner had had installed---he'd come to know Teyla fairly well during her last stay on the hive, and he expected her to be asking questions, demanding answers from him now that her friends were not there to see. But she hung back, watching the bright blue lines of their hyperspace window stream across the semi-transparent windshield.

Finally irritated with her unusual silence, Todd spoke to her; though he did not turn around, but continued to make adjustments as they were needed.

"What did you tell your friends before we left?" he asked. He heard her shift behind him.

"I asked them to do something for me, if this should not work out."

"You don't believe that we can get the formula?"

"I don't believe anything that you tell me anymore," she said tightly.

"That means at one point you must have." She snickered softly, a sound that from her he associated with disagreement or displeasure. But she didn't give any more of a reply.

"Why are you so quite?" he asked her after a moment of silence. "This is not like you; definitely not what I have come to expect from my queen."

"Don't mock me," she snapped. "If you must know, concentrating on keeping myself silent is the only thing keeping me sane; the only reason that I have not attempted to rip _you _apart yet." Todd turned in his seat to face her.

"You really don't believe that you'll get back to the way that you were again, do you?" he asked incredulously. Teyla slowly blinked her cold golden eyes at him.

"You cannot expect me to return to my life and not be changed by what you did? You made me feed!"

"I did it to save your life-"

"By taking another?!" she demanded, her voice rising a little. "I felt him die; and when I fed, I could see into his mind. You have no idea what you have made me do."

"Believe me, Teyla, I want you back home as soon as possible, too; you killed far too many of my people on your last little stint here; and I am not anxious to lose more of my crew to your "queenly whims"." Teyla smiled tightly.

"That had nothing to do with me," she said softly. "They were already condemned. I just made it hurt less." Todd snarled softly and turned back to the controls.

"Why can't you be easier to deal with, like other humans?"

"Because I am not like other humans; I am a queen, remember?" Todd hissed, thoroughly irritated now and more confused by her rapid mood changes than ever.

"So long as you play the part to the other hive, I don't care what you do."

"And this will not end like last time?" she questioned.

"Not without your knowledge." He sighed theatrically, as only he could do. "I promise to tell you the next time I plan on stabbing someone."

"Good," she murmured. "Like I said, if anything goes wrong I believe that I will enjoy your death much more than that innocent man's." Her voice clouded with pain and horror as she remembered once again what she had done. Todd felt her resolve weaken, and for a moment he feared that she was going to flip out again. But she brought it back under control, and stood silent once again.

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"What's taking them so long?" Rodney complained. Carson looked at him, wearing a mask of false patience to disguise the fact that he had lost his long ago.

"They've only been gone about an hour, Rodney; and they have to travel far to get there. Todd said that they could take several days."

"Yeah, remind me why we trusted him again this time after he dumped that same load of garbage on us last time?" John asked.

"Teyla insisted," Ronon reminded him. "We didn't really get the choice to pick sides."

"Why couldn't we at least wait in the queen's quarters instead of in this claustrophobic jumper then?" McKay demanded.

"Because if Todd was lying to _us_ and he was going to have his people capture us after he left, we don't want him knowing where we are."

"Why couldn't we just go with them? I mean, as long as we hide, the wraith'll never know we're there or try to eat us,"

"Don't you think that we thought of that?" Sheppard snapped, his patience long gone. "But again, it wasn't our choice; Teyla wouldn't have let us."

"Who said we have to tell her?"

"Rodney," Carson said softly, wearied by his friend's words, "you are only going to make things worse for yourself; it's not worth it. Try to rest."

"How can you rest when you have no idea what's going on?"

"I believe that we managed last time," the doctor reminded him.

"Ah, but that wasn't resting, that was working. This is different."

"Look Rodney," John snapped. "We _know _what you're thinking; we're all thinking it. I'm pretty sure that the good doctor here was just trying to find a nicer way to say _shut up_!" Taken aback, Rodney blinked, insulted.

"Fine," he huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the colonel. Let them sit there and pretend that nothing was wrong. Didn't they realize that silence was agitiating? He gave them two hours tops before it got too much for them and they all exploded.

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"We're here," Todd stated, as the little ship came out of hyperspace. Teyla leaned on a console and looked out of the windshield at the hive that they were coming up on.

"Do they know that we are here?" she asked him softly. He turned to her with a funny grin on his face.

"Your people are not the only ones who possess cloaking technology," he said. "They will not detect us until we wish it." Teyla drew herself up to her full height, managing not only to seem imposing, but bigger than Todd, somehow.

"I wish it," she said, falling back into her carefully cultivated role of a queen. "Allow them to see us."

"They often "see" intruders with their weapons," he reminded her. Teyla's forehead twitched, and Todd guessed that if she was still in her human form, that expression would have been a raised eyebrow. It was not quite so potent on her shiny smooth wraith features, but her eyes glowing betwen narrowed lids more than made up for it.

"Uncloak the ship," she said again, very softly but with an air of danger that he couldn't ignore. Whatever her transformation was doing to her mind, it was going to make her a very convincing queen. "And hail them. I wish to speak with them." Todd did as he was told. And as promised, the bigger ship immediately began to fire on them. Todd attempted to move the ship, but Teyla stopped him.

"Leave us on course," she said confidently, sounding as silky as was possible with the voice of a wraith.

"You're going to get us killed," he informed her; but he obeyed. And not one of the shots hit them. They passed around, very close, but nothing touched them. He stared a Teyla in amazement.

"I have controlled other queen's minds," she said, allowing a grin to curve her lips and expose her pointed teeth. "And you think that a few mere gunmen would be a problem." Todd allowed himself to laugh, unable to help it. She had some tricks left yet, this one. Any doubts that he may have had that things would go wrong from their end were banished. If they were to be discovered, it would not be for a mistake on their part.

They had no more time to enjoy their brief victory, for their hail was answered. A hologram appeared, of a single wraith. By the male's facial tattos, she recognized him to be a second in command. But his queen was noticeably absent. Teyla's face twisted into an ugly sneer.

"Is your queen hiding from me?" she demanded. "How dare she send a _subordinate_ to deal with me?! You are lucky that I need you, or this further outrage would not be tolerated."

"Further outrage?" the wraith barked out a laugh. "What was the first?" Teyla's eyes narrowed angrily, and she stepped closer to the image. She had the satisfaction of seeing him shrink back a little.

"What was the first?" she mimicked. "You allowed you crew to fire on me. You did not greet me immediately. And now that my presence should finally be recognized in a way befitting a queen, she sends _you _to greet me." she hissed angrily. "You will send me your "_queen_" immediately." Instantly the male bristled, and drew himself up straight.

"She is not to be disturbed, especially not by the likes of you," he said haughtily. "I doubt that she will tolerate the insult of two _underlings_ playing dress-up coming to challenge her."

"You will allow me to board immediately, so that I may discuss the the _insult_ of being challenged by a mere drone, and a fitting punishment for both you and the gunners," she slid into his mind, and found the pain centers, and squeezed. "Am I understood?" he grunted with pain, and seemed to have trouble standing straight.

"You may board," he gritted finally. "She will grant you audience." Teyla awarded him a tight smile.

"And you will greet us personally, and take us to her." he nodded stiffly only when she tightened her grip on his mind.

"Yes, my lady," he ground out, before the hologram flickered away.

Teyla grinned triumphantly and turned to face Todd, who had been successful in hiding his amusement until then.

"Have I "played my part" to your satisfaction?" she asked smugly, remembering his earlier words. He nodded.

"Very impressive. If you do half as well with the queen as you have with her commander, I have no doubt that we can have anything that we desire." she turned back towards the windshield and watched them as they descended towards the hive, and Todd wondered if after this she would really want to go back to what she had been.

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_A/N: Okay, the one problem that I KNOW is in this chapter is the little ship. It's not a normal wraith ship design. I know this. But this is a special, one of a kind ship that had been built slightly differently anyways; and Todd integrated technology from other races aside from the wraith into its design when he commandeered it. I didn't get to explain it in the chapter, but I had to explain it because it irritates even ME that it's not the proper design for a wraith ship. Anyways, continue, enjoy, and leave a review and tell me if you forgive me for taking a couple of days off. (which I hate doing... :P)_


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone for all of your reviews! They've been a huge help! Not much Teyla this here, but I'll make it up next chapter..._

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**Hungry For News.**

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Rodney had been nearly right. It was exactly two hours and twenty-seven minutes later that Sheppard snapped. Quite suddenly, so much so that he made everyone else jump, he swore, and jumped to his feet.

"I can't take it anymore!" he shouted softly. "We've _got _to do _something_!"

"Silence getting too much for you?" Rodney asked, a self-satisfied grin on his face. John glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Believe me, you don't want to be asking me questions right now," he growled.

"Oh, relax. I could have told you that you go nuts when it's quite. It's just a fact." Rodney took a bite of a power bar and leaned back in his sea.

"Oh, so _now _you want to relax? I distinctly remember you doing nothing but worrying about two hours ago-"

"Two and a half hours," Rodney corrected. "And who says I didn't go crazy? I should be flipping out right now; maybe my calmness right now means that I've actually gone over the edge." Sheppard frowned at him wordlessly as he tried to figure out that statement. From his seat to McKay's right, Ronon groaned softly.

"Will you guys shut up?" he muttered, covering a yawn. Carson blinked in surprise.

"You were asleep?" he asked, confused. He didn't think that Ronon would _ever _sleep in a situation like this. The Satedan shrugged.

"I was kind of hoping that all this wraith stuff and trusting Todd was a dream," he admitted.

"We are _not _trusting Todd-" John began, but Ronon cut him off.

"Yes we are. We wouldn't have come here if we didn't trust him a little; and you would have let me shoot him when he suggested going off alone with Teyla if there wasn't some trust involved with this whole thing. You still should have let me shoot him, by the way..."

"I'll make it up to you when he gets back," John said distractedly. "But while almost everything that you said was technically almost true, you missed it completely."

"Alright then," Ronon said. "If we didn't let all this happen because of trust, then why?"

"I never said that trust wasn't involved," John told him. "I just said that we didn't trust Todd. But I _do _trust Teyla; and that's why this has gone where it has."

"If you trust her to take care of herself, then why are you worrying?" Carson asked.

"Because none of us trust Todd," Rodney said.

"Then why are we still on his ship?" the conversation was about to turn into an argument, but before it could escalate any further, they received a transmission. They were all instantly silenced when they realized that it was from Teyla. Her image filled their windshield, her cast noticeably absent.

"We have reached the other hive," she informed them. "And we have been allowed access. We cannot communicate with you again until we leave."

"But you're okay right now?" they wanted to know. Teyla smiled a little, and nodded.

"For now we are okay, yes. I will contact you upon our departure."

"Be careful," they warned her.

"I will be," she promised, before the transmission ended. The guys all looked at each other, but they didn't say anything. As he slowly settled back into his seat, Rodney realized that they were in for a lot more waiting... and silence.

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Todd entered the small quarters from where Teyla had been sending the message. She turned as he came in, and for a moment he paused, surprised. She had changed out of the dark dress that she had donned on his ship, and was now wearing a long, sweeping gown of deep red. She had pulled her hair partially back, and a crown of braids was woven about her head. She actually made quite an attractive wraith. He imagined that if he were human, he would blush to see her.

"You contacted them?" he questioned, all of his thoughts taking mere seconds. She nodded, taking a deep breath.

"The commander is here," he informed her. "He is waiting for us." She gave a small, wicked smile.

"Then let him wait," she said. Todd frowned a little.

"Are you alright?" Teyla's expression must have matched his.

"If you are asking if I can do this, then yes."

"Then I would not waste any more time." He stepped out of her path, and gestured to the door. "After you."

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_A/N: Okay, sorry, short. I couldn't help it; I wanted a scene in the jumper, but I really think that what's coming next deserves its own, full chapter. Keep reading! :)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: In the ninth chapter, especially, I was having waaaayyy too much fun making Teyla a queen. I figured I'd have some more fun now ;)_

_Thanks again for all the reviews! I REALLY do appreciate them; and they've been keeping me inspied :). Keep it up! :D lol_

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**An Invitation to Dinner**

-----------

Teyla and Todd exited their little ship, and the hive commander that Teyla had dealt with glared at them as they emerged.

"My queen does not like to be kept waiting," he sneered. Teyla got that expression again, the one that reminded Todd of a raised eyebrow.

"Your "queen" did not plan this," she said. "She has shown little enough hospitality as it is; she can wait as long as I make her."

"You are very fortunate that you have him with you, or you would be dead," the commander nodded over her head at Todd. "Little queen." Teyla reacted instantly, kicking his legs out fro under him and holding him on his knees, a knife pressed against his throat.

"And you are fotrunate that your neck is still whole," she hissed in his ear. "But I severly doubt that it will remain so much longer; so I would advise that you do your best to please me and change my mind." she let him up and straightened gracefully, as if nothing had happened.

"Lead on," she ordered. The commander lead them through the dark halls of the hive, to what appeared to be the throne room. He stepped aside and stretched an arm out towards the door.

"Your queen awaits," he said. Teyla chose to ignore that insult for the moment, but swept past him without so much as a glance, entering the throne room.

The commander appeared to have let them in through a back door, so that they were coming in facing the back of the throne. Teyla pressed her lips together angrily, thinking that the wraith really _had _been lucky that she hadn't killed him yet as he continued to insult her. As far as he knew, she really was a queen; and she was strong. He should not be treating her like this.

Suddenly, she stopped walking forward, and held Todd back as well.

"I wil not be spoken to from a throne by such as you," she said regally. "Meet me on the floor like an equal."

"Why should I?" The queen sounded almost bored with her. "You are no queen; I definitely do not know you, and that makes you worthless to me. Go home, little one, and find someplace where you will be feared." Teyla sent Todd a message with her eyes, and he slowly and silently began to advance towards the back of the throne.

"You will come down to meet me," Teyla said again. "I do not take kindly to such offenses as you have already committed against me, but you may still redeem yourself of this disgrace."

"I have nothing to fear from you," the queen said. "I can feel your weakness..."

"You _will _do as I say!" Teyla roared. "Whether by your choice or by force!" Todd moved to the other side of the throne and siezed the queen in an iron grip, half-dragging her down the short steps to be on level ground with Teyla.

"Tell your subordinate to unhand me at once!" the other queen demanded. Teyla allowed that small smile to return, mocking the queen further.

"Thank you for reconsidering," she said condescendingly, before raising her eyes to meet Todd's. "I believe that you can release her now," she said. "There will not be anymore trouble." Todd bowed his head, and obediently released the queen's arms. She shook them as if disgusted by his touch, but then seemed to regain some semblance of dignity, and seemed to find it better to at least hear what Teyla wanted.

"Why have you come here?" she asked.

"I had come in peace," Teyla began. "But the reaction of your crew upon seeing my ship was unfit for a traitor, let alone a queen. Before we speak I demand that they be dealt with."

"You blame my crew for firing upon an unknown vessel?"

"Would you rather I blame you?" Teyla hissed menacingly. The other queen frowned.

"Perhaps they have done wrong," she admitted grudgingly, though Teyla had a feeling that her response had more to do with not wanting to waste more time than she already had to than actual fear of her. That would change soon, though.

"Your gunners," Teyla said. "Have them brought here." The queen gave a mental order, and a moment later her commander brought three proud-looking wraith into the room. Then he stood back by the doorway, seeming eager to see if his queen would fold before the whim of this impostor.

"Are these all of them?" Teyla asked, looking over each one with a critical eye and already knowing that---surprisingly---they had done exactly as she said.

"All that were on duty when the unfortunate incident occurred," the other queen replied smoothly. Teyla was silent for a moment, as she debated what to do. She could feel all the eyes in the room on her---literally---as she made her decision.

"You may deal with them as you see fit," the queen allowed. Teyla took that at face value, and stepping up to the first wraith in the group she reached up and broke his neck with a sharp twist of her hands. With incredible speed she repeated the gesture, while making it seem that she killed them differently each time.

When she was done she turned to the other queen, barely out of breath.

"Do we have balance?" the queen asked her. She hesitated for a second.

"I should kill him too," she said, nodding her head in the direction of the commander, lingering by the door. The queen hardened.

"You cannot have him," she said. "I need him."

"I thought that you would feel that way," she said. "But his actions were a great insult to me. There must be some form of retribution."

"What do you want?" the queen asked warily.

"I want his life," Teyla answered. "And I get what I want."

"You cannot have him," the queen repeated.

"But there is something else that you can do for me."

"Name it," she said; and Teyla wondered why she was so eager to protect her commander.

"I want the reverse drug," she said. "That undoes the transformation from humans into wraith." She had the satisfaction of seeing both the queen and her commander gasp.

"How do you know of this?" the male wraith demanded.

"I know many things that most do not," she said. "How I learned of this does not matter; I _want _it. And it will save your life to give it to me."

"Why would you want something so small to repay such an insult?" the other queen mocked. "Or were you not aware of exactly what happened?"

"Oh, I was aware," Teyla said. "But there are other things that I need more."

"Why would you need only half the drug?"

"Why does your "queen" need you so badly?" the commander closed his mouth, and Teyla turned back to the queen with a sound of satisfaction. "Do we have a bargain?" she asked.

"I will consider it," the queen said slowly. "But you must stay until I have decided."

"Of course," Teyla said. "I would not risk leaving before I have been repaid."

"And you will... dine with me?" the queen giggled, probably at her use of such a human word. To Teyla, the offer had the distinct sense of a trap; but she saw no other option at the moment; it wold take far to long to search every wraith's mind for the formula.

"If your intent is to treat me as my status demands and unlike a mere human, than I will," Teyla agreed. She saw the queen and her commander exchange a meaningful glance, but she could not begin to guess _what _they were planning.

"Then you may return to your ship for now," the queen said. "I will send for you when it is time."

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_A/N: Drop me a review and let me know what you think! And what you think the queen and her commander are planning... ;)_


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: Another quick one. I realized last night that they've been out of contact with Atlantis for quite a few chapters now; and I figured that it was time to fix that. (and my brother helped me figure out exactly what I would be doing with *that* half of the chapter...) I apologize, by the way, for being late with this chapter again; the past few days have been surprisingly busy, and inspiration seems to have stalled just a tad... :P _

_Thank you once again to everyone who has reviewed so far! You've really made this story what it is; more than me, because I expected *maybe* three chapters, and look where all your nice comments have led me! Your support is amazing, and I'm so glad that you've been enjoying this fic! :D_

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**Ordering Out**

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The silence in the jumper had once again stretched to the breaking point; but no one but Ronon could feel it. Everyone else---even McKay, in spite of all of his words---had fallen asleep, leaving the Satedan to his thoughts. He had soon lost track of time, but no matter how long or how little it had been, he decided that being alone with his thoughts was a bad thing; he was going absolutely nuts imagining all of the terrible things that could be happening to Teyla. He resolved to never let his friends leave him the only one awake again.

A transmission to the jumper jarred him out of his disturbing thoughts, and his friends out of their sleepy stupor. John smacked clumsily at the button to open a channel.

It was Mr. Woolsey.

"Where are you?" he asked irritably, making them sit straight up in their chairs when they realized that they were supposed to have radioed in with him _hours _ago.

They shared a guilty glance.

"We're still on the hive," John said evasively. "In the cloaked jumper, if you're worried."

"Where's Teyla?" he asked. The guy all shifted uncomfortably. "Did you find out what happened to her?"

"Yeah, we found out; it wasn't Todd. At least, not directly."

"Well, did you get her back to normal?"

"Not exactly..." Rodney began.

"She started changing into a queen," Beckett explained. Woolsey frowned.

"Did Todd tell you how to fix it?"

"He had an idea..." Woolsy seemed to be looking around them, as if there was something behind them.

"Where's Teyla?" he asked suddenly.

"She's... not here at the moment." John said.

"I didn't ask where she wasn't; I asked where she _is_."

"She's with Todd," Ronon said grumpily. Woolsey's mouth opened and closed several times in surprise, making him look like a gasping fish.

"Can you get her please?" he asked finally, once he had recovered. "I'd like to speak with her."

"She... no, we can't get her."

"Why not?"

"She and Todd aren't exactly here right now..." John said, cringing a little under Woolsey's gaze.

"Where are _they_?" he asked, his voice tight.

"They went to get the cure for whatever's wrong with her from another rival hive," McKay said. He was surprised when Mr. Woosley's eyeballs _didn't _pop out of his head.

"You let her go off with Todd alone again?"

"Well, it's not like he didn't give her a choice this time; she _wanted to_ go. She can't stand being like this."

"And why did _you _four give her a choice?"

"It _isn't _our choice whether she does it or not," John said painfully. "She follows our orders because she _wants to_, not because she _has _to."

"Wasn't she thinking of what could happen to her kid if something happens to _her_?"

"She's _doing _this for Torren," Carson cut in. "She doesn't want to be like this; she wants to get back to the way that she was so that she can care for her son." Woolsey sighed in resignation.

"When are they getting back?"

"It could be a few days," Ronon bit out, remembering their conversation with Todd.

"A few days...? And you're just sitting around on his hive, not expecting a trap?"

"Relax," John said. "The jumper is cloaked, and we moved it to a different part of the dart bay. They won't find us. And we are NOT leaving this hive until we have Teyla back, safe and _human _again." Woolsey rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. He had learned quickly upon his first visit to Atlantis that it was impossible to change any of their minds.

"Be careful," he charged them. "And if something _does _happen to her, I'm holding you _all _responsible, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," John said, not daring to glance at his team. "I'm pretty sure we all will be, too..."

------------

"That went well," Teyla said, once she and Todd had returned to the privacy of their little ship. They were in the small quarters where Teyla had sent the message from---Todd told her that the previous queen had kept this ship as a personal escape craft, which was why these quarters and their contents were here at all---for the first time able to discuss what had happened.

"Did it?" Todd asked, sounding careless, but with an undertone of worry that she couldn't ignore.

"What?" Teyla asked. "It _could _have gone worse; I half expected her to try to kill me when I "suggested" that she let me deal with her crew."

"You forget what you accepted," the wraith reminded her. "You realize that you are going to have to feed again?"

"I will just have to find another of her crew to be displeased with before then," Teyla said carelessly, though if she were to be truthful with herself, she was very worried. She didn't want to feed; that was the whole point of this. But if she did, it was going to be another wraith.

_Another wraith_. That thought shocked her, and she frowned. Where had _that _come from?

"She won't let you off that easy, you know," Todd said. "She doesn't like you; this is all a trap."

"I _know _that!" Teyla said, letting her irritation show, just a little. "But we have no other choice; we _need _to get that formula."

"You don't think that she'll give it to you as promised, do you?"

"I will think of something," Teyla informed him. "We have come this far; we _must _finish it."

"Whatever you say..." the wraith said, wondering briefly if the queen that had owned this ship before him had left echoes of herself that were now projecting on Teyla. She was changing, somehow. He didn't understand it, but he had a feeling that if they were going to change her back, it was going to have to be _soon_.

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_A/N: So there you go. I don't know how much I'll be able to update this week (I'm busy almost every night...), but I'll write a lot, even if I don't post, so that I can update as soon as possible :)._

_Please leave a review, and inspire me for the week ;)._


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note: Okay, so I'm still really busy; but I haven't posted anything all week, and it's felt HORRIBLE! (It turns out that my practically non-existent writing this week is going better than anything else that I've had planned... :P eh, such is life...) And you've all been so patient, waiting for me to post the next chapter. So here it is, and I hope you like it! :D_

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**What's For Dinner?**

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After several uneventful hours of waiting, the commander returned for Teyla and Todd.

"My lady awaits you," he hissed through his teeth. Teyla managed to keep herself impassive, but she had to suppress a shudder at his tone. No matter how uncomfortably wraith-like she was starting to feel, that voice was enough to make anyone's skin crawl. Maybe the queen wanted him alive because she was afraid of him?

She and Todd followed the commander to a great hall, the equivalent of a wraith queen's "dining room". As the door opened, an odd smell blew out of the room, andn Teyla frowned slightly, trying to distinguish it. She felt slight pressure on her back from Todd's hand, and realized that she had stopped walking. Gathering herself, she faced the commander, who had turned to look back at her with a heavy glare from his dull eyes.

"What?" he asked insultingly. Teyla matched his look with a withering glare.

"I do what I please," she informed him, unable to ignore his blatant rudeness to her any longer. "And if you have a "problem" with that, then you can very quickly be eliminated, and replaced by someone who-" he words were cut of as the commander stepped up close to her, so that her body was pressed between his and Todd's. His fingers wrapped around the top of her arm, nails digging in and drawing dark blood.

The commander was trying to connect to her, trying to speak into her mind whatever vile threats that he had for her; but Teyla was suddenly oblivious. She glanced down at his hand around her arm, and felt a great rage come over her, the like of which she had never felt before, even with those emotions heightened by her transformation. But suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to feed on this creature that stood before her. He had dared to touch her, he had _dared _to draw her blood! Her promise to never feed again forgotten, she pushed him away with strength like she had never felt before, and raised her hand, hissing angrily.

"_No_!" Todd grabbed her raised hand and forced it down; and she whirled on him and threw him back. He stumbled into the wall, and jerked his head up to meet her eyes as she advanced on him, no doubt desiring his life as well. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Forgive me, my queen," he pleaded, putting just the right amount of fear into his words. "I only wished to remind you of the greater feast that awaits you," he watched the cuts in her arm mend themselves, and he knew that they had very little time left before her transformation became irreversible. They needed to get the formula from the other queen; and killing her commander before that point would definitely interfere with their plans.

"Why waste your time on this filth?" he continued, nodding his head at the commander, who was by now getting back on his feet as well. "When you have all that you could desire waiting for you just inside?" Teyla pressed her lips together, considering that. Something in Todd's eyes must have warned her about how little time that they had left.

With a raspy grunt, she spun around to face the commander again.

"You are fortunate that I do not have time to kill you right now," she hissed. "But soon..."

"I look forward to that battle," the commander replied. "And when it comes, I will crush you." He and Teyla locked each other in a stalemate of glares. It was broken by the other queen's voice from inside the chamber.

"What are you waiting for? Bring them in." The commander tore his gaze away from Teyla, and stepped aside from the door. Teyla straightened, lifted her head, and passed him, entering the chamber. Todd followed, keeping an eye on the wraith even as he strode past him.

The other queen was waiting across the room from them, and the other end of a long table filled with strange foods, some of which even Teyla had never seen before. She looked down at the table with disgust on her face, then raised her eyes to the queen.

"What is this?" she demanded. "I thought that you said a feast."

"And there will be one," the queen assured her. "But first, I believe we were going to discuss what you came for?" Her voice was sickly sweet, and Teyla sensed a trap even if she could not quite guess what it was. Dimly behind her she heard the commander enter, and the door close. Experience told her that they were locking her and Todd in. But what could they possibly do to defeat her?

"You know what I came for," Teyla said. "Unfortunately my scientist... displeased me with his results, and I need the reverse formula."

"Why would you need that?" the queen asked. "And why come to me for it?" she started to pace a little bit. "If you are so powerful as you have said, hen why would you need help from me?"

"I thought that I would be given a better reception, and we could combine our research," Teyla said. "My scientist was not able to create a reverse drug, but he _was _able to perfect the initial treatment. All of our tests were successful."

"How is that possible?" the commander began, but was silenced by a mere look from his queen.

"And you would be willing to trade that information?" she asked instead. Teyla frowned.

"I _was _willing, before your commander insulted me. Now I expect at least one dose of the completed formula as payment for his rudeness. But I might still consider a fuller trade, as long as this incident is not repeated."

"I promise that it will never happen to you again," the queen said menacingly. Teyla noticed Todd move a little bit away from her, contrary to his behavior of the trip so far which to this point had been surprisingly protective. Slightly unnerved, Teyla refocused her attention to sense each wraith in the room; especially the commander, who stayed just out of her vision.

"I would like the formula before I make a deal," Teyla said. The queen smiled, sickly sweet, and nodded.

"Very well," she gestured to a small bottle on the table. "There it is." Teyla frowned suspiciously, and glanced at Todd. He reached over and picked it up, and slipped it into his pocket.

"Now do we have an agreement?" Teyla nodded gracefully.

"Yes. Now where is that feast that you spoke of?"

"It just arrived." All three wraith in the om changed, turning to her. Teyla looked around, her eyes taking in first the queen, then the commander, then Todd. For the first time she let her wraith mask slip, horrified.

"Todd, you...?" she didn't have to finish the question, the three wraith facing her and the betrayal in her eyes words enough.

"Honestly, Teyla, did you expect anything different?" he asked softly, a knife somehow appearing in his hand.

"I expected better from my commander," she said carefully, bringing herself into check again. "You remember what happened last time that you disobeyed me." Todd grinned weirdly at her.

"That was a warning," he said, as he and the other two wraith closed in on her, for the kill.

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_A/N: Sorry for the cliffie! Actually, this scene didn't turn out *quite* like I wanted it too (I feel like I've been doing a lot of the same things with the commander and stuff; but that's just the way that his character is coming out. He really *doesn't* learn), but I've had it planned for a while, and I needed to write it... but I bet that you didn't see that coming, huh? I promise to update as soon as possible!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note: Hm, you all asked if Todd *really* betrayed her or now; here is your answer. I hope you like, and thank you all for all of your reviews and support :). Only a chapter or two more to go, methinks... *is sad :(*_

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**Party Crashers**

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Teyla stood her ground as the three wraith advanced on her, shifting only slightly to keep them all in her view. She had caught something odd in Todd's voice, and the wording of his sentence seemed significant; "That was a warning..."

"You would betray me to ally with this queen?" she asked carefully, turning her head slightly in the other queen's direction.

"She made me an offer that I couldn't refuse," he said.

"Really?" Teyla began, eyeing his knife with interest, noting that the queen and her commander carried no weapons, but looked ready to feed.

"Do not worry, little queen," the commander purred, cutting off whatever words may have been on the edge of her tongue. "We will take good care of you..."

"Yes we will," Todd said, as they came within reach of her. He swept his arm out... and around, slamming his knife into the throat of the other queen.

She fell back, amazement in her eyes as she watched her own blood gush from her throat. She collapsed, spasming, onto the ground; her death throes accented by gurgling shrieks.

Chaos ensued.

Teyla recognized the motion even before Todd had completed it; and realizing what he had planned and what he had truly been warning her about, she didn't hesitate, but immediately struck out at the commander, allowing her wraith-like rage to overtake her.

He reacted quicker than she would have liked, ducking away and kicking out at her viciously as he realized the situation as well.

"Teyla!" Todd called, as alarms began to wail through the ship; the queen must have triggered them. He could feel several wraith closing in on their position, and he knew that they were out of time in more ways than one. By Teyla's reaction, he would say that she would be lucky if they _could _change her back.

"Teyla, we need to go _now_!" But she didn't hear him; deaf to everything but her battle, all she could think about was this scum before her, and how he must _die_.

The commander was grinning wickedly, battling her with practiced ease and skill that nearly matched her own. He drove her back, and she slipped in the queen's blood, falling heavily. The commander lunged at her, and she threw her hands up, one catching his throat and the other slamming inton his chest, the feeder latching on and holding.

Teyla gave a primal, inhuman shriek, and sucked him dry, absorbing his strength and his life in moments. When she was finished, she threw the withered carcass off of herself, and paused for a breath as her body acclimated to the new strength surging in her.

Todd grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet, tugging her through the doorway before she could protest.

"We must hurry!" But they were beyond out of time.

Teyla screamed again, this time a very human scream of pain and fear; and she fell. Todd caught her before she hit the ground, but she was already unconscious, moaning and babbling incoherently, writhing in pain.

Without a second's thought, Todd swept her up in his arms and ran for the ship, forcing any other wraith in the hallways to move or be run down. He bolted of the ramp of their ship and dropped her on the bed in the living quarters before throwing himself in the pilot's chair and taking the engines off standby. Withing moments, they were at full power and had cleared the ship; and he engaged the hyperdrive, the course back to his hive already laid in. As soon as he was certain that they were safe, he left the ship on auto-pilot and went back to Teyla

She was bad; she was still screaming and moaning as if something was eating her alive from the inside out. She wouldn't make it back without completely transforming or dying without the formula.

Todd wasn't sure if it was a wise idea to risk giving her the treatment now; it had always been the un-spoken plan that Dr. Beckett would administer it, and make sure that it was done right. And his little ship was hardly a decent alternative for an operating room. But then, he didn't suppose that the injection would be too difficult, assuming that he got the right spot; the operating room would have been more to monitor her reactions to the drug. And he really didn't like the idea of what Sheppard's team would do to him if he hesitated and they _couldn't _save her.

He took the bottle from his coat pocket, and a syringe that he'd brought along in the extremely rare---he'd thought---case that this emergency took place. Hoping desperately that the hasty administration and circumstances would not have a negative effect, he plunged the needle into her arm.

------------

John had lost track of how many hours it had been since Teyla had contacted them. And quite honestly, he didn't really care anymore. What he was more concerned about now was figuring out the best and most painful way to kill Todd if something had gone wrong. The should never have let that wraith take her...

"Colonel Sheppard!" Speak of the devil. His voice was coming from just outside the jumper's closed hatch---which would have bothered John on any other day, that he had been able to find them after they had moved the jumper---but there was no other sounds to indicate that Teyla was with him.

John motioned for Ronon to have his gun ready, and slapped the button to lower the hatch, raising his own gun as well. On the other side stood a very worried sounding wraith; and no Teyla.

"Where is she?!" Rodney demanded, the first to regain his voice.

"She is still on my ship," Todd explained. "Dr. Beckett, I require your assistance."

"Right." The doctor grabbed his medical kit and followed Todd, the wraith explaining what had happened on the hive ship and what he had been forced to do to save her. Carson didn't answer, just nodded, mentally figuring out what Teyla's chances were that she'd be okay and normal again.

Teyla's condition hadn't changed much; but the feeders on her hands kept closing and ripping open, over and over again, as if her body couldn't decide what form it would rather take.

"What did you _do_?" the doctor demanded. Todd held up his hands in a surprisingly human gesture of defense.

"She was out of time!" Carson sighed, but accepted that answer.

"Alright, we need to get her back to Atlantis _right now_!"

"John's radioing the city to have ha med-team ready when we get back," Ronon said, poking his head through the door.

"Thank you, lad. Now help me move her to the jumper."

------------

Sheppard's team waited anxiously outside of the infirmary for news of Teyla's condition, distractedly de-briefing Woolsey as best as they could. Todd was there, but he remained in the background, not wanting to invoke the wraith of the team.

"Do you think that she'll remember anything when she wakes up?" Rodney wondered after they had explained everything to Woolsey with some level of coherence.

"Who knows?" John shrugged. "She wasn't consistent last time."

"I don't think that we should tell her," Ronon said slowly. They all looked at him.

"I thought that last time we agreed not to keep this a secret from her," Woolsey began.

"That was before she fed," Ronon reminded him. "If she doesn't remember, and we tell her what she did... it will kill her."

"But if you don't tell her and she finds out..."

"She won't," Ronon said confidently, glancing at John, who nodded his approval. "'Cuz whoever tells her is gonna be the _next_ one to die."

"So what do we tell her instead?" Rodney asked.

"That she fell and hit her head," John said. "Hard."

"Do you think that she's going to believe that she was in a coma for that long?"

"That's the story."

"Are you _sure _that this is the best idea?" McKay persisted. Bu their conversation was cut short as Beckett exited the door that they had converged around, a weary look on his face.

"Well?" they all pressed anxiously.

"We ran a full check on her and saw what the drug was doing to change her back," he said slowly. "Jennifer is with her now; but I think that for now, she's out of the woods!" He anticipated the team's next question.

"Yes, you can go in and sit with her if you want, provided that you don't do anything to wake her up." In the midst of the excitement and relief, Todd slipped away and made his way back up to the gateroom, where he was allowed to dial out because of everyone's gratefulness for what he had done for Teyla. He stepped through the shimmering blue circle, and the gate shut down behind him...

The team was all lounging around Teyla's recovery room, waiting for her to wake up. Kanaan had also heard that she was back and getting better, and he and Torren joined them soon after they had been allowed in. Now they all sat restlessly, watching Teyla slowly turn back into herself and waiting for her to wake up.

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_A/N: See? Todd *didn't* betray her... for very long, anyways. And at least this time she had a warning before he stabbed the queen ;). The last chapter should be coming soon!_


	15. epilogue

_Author's Note: We are finally at the end. *sniffs* I am honestly very sad to see this fic go, because I've loved it dearly and it's taken me---all of us---on quite a journey. And I am SO grateful to all of you who have helped to make it so; you've made this so much better than the one-shot that was intended. Thank you for your reviews and kind words and support; you've made all of this crazy journey truly worthwhile :). GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!! :D ~jewel_

_Special thanks to all those who reviewed: _**sakurablue13, Grannanatlanta, Robert1000, PeaceLily4ever, AthosionWarrior, Sam, female'wraith, wicked wiz 1077, Lone-ranger1, The King's Soldier, Amandasnow, Eternal Destiny, BookFilmLover, SGA-Seven, Morgomir, and Manic Tater!**

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**Epilogue (Eatin' Speaks Louder 'n Words!)**

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Teyla heard her team before she saw them; and she smiled when Torren's voice rose in a high-pitched squeal above theirs, and Kanaan desperately tried to quiet him (which he knew very well was a useless gesture). For a moment she merely laid still and listened, enjoying the sounds of familiar voices and feeling blissfully calm.

"Hey, she's smiling; she's awake!" Rodney's voice accused. Her grin widened as she opened her eyes and took in the people around her.

"See?" McKay demanded smugly of his team. "I told you."

"It's nice to see you too, Rodney," she said, rolling her eyes. She knew he meant well, though.

"How do you feel?" Kanaan asked as Torren---as usual---jumped straight for his mother's arms.

"I am fine, I think," she said, blinking. "Everything feels... oddly blurry, though. Did something happen with Todd? I remember _something _about him..." her friends exchanged glances.

"You fell," John offered after a moment. "And you hit your head."

"Really hard," Ronon added.

"You've been out cold all week," Rodney put it. "Maybe you dreamed about Todd?"

"You were talking about him, too," Kanaan reminded the scientist, before turning back to Teyla. "Perhaps you heard them in your sleep?" Teyla shrugged and nodded.

"Perhaps. I would not be surprised if that was the case." She paused. "So I fell?"

"Somebody spilled something halfway down a flight of stairs; you slipped and flew the rest of the way down, and did a ten-point nose-dove right into a sharp corner on the wall. But doc's been trying out some new treatments, and you're pretty much all healed up now."

"Aye, that she is." Teyla turned her head at the sound of a familiar Scottish lilt.

"Dr. Beckett!" she cried softly. He grinned.

"Hello, Lass. So glad to see you finally awake. Dr. Keller's treatments seem to have worked wonders on your bruises."

"So I am told." She smiled. "When did you get back?"

"A few days ago; though it was for entirely selfish reasons, I admit. I missed you all here."

"Well I am glad that you are back, then," she told him.

"Aye, so am I, love."

Teyla looked around at all of her friends, warmth and gratitude filling her.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "All of you. I am glad that I have been in such good hands."

"Anytime," Sheppard drawled pleasantly, everyone else nodding in agreement.

Ronon leaned forward in his chair.

"Hey, Teyla, you hungry?" he asked suddenly. Teyla's brain took a second to process his question, and she found that in spite of her week-long coma---and _much _to her surprise---she didn't want to eat anything.

"No, thank you," she said. "I believe I am alright." She didn't notice the collective sigh of relief from her friends, only her limbs aching from disuse. She shooed everyone out, laughing.

"Go on! I want to get dressed so that I can get out of here!"

Fin.

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_A/N: So there you go. I purposefully made the ending complete fluff; I think that I got dark enough through most of it to deserve that much. Thank you all once again for everything that you've done for me with this! Love to you all! ~jewel_

_ps. "Eatin' Speaks Louder 'n Words" is a quote from the Andy Griffith show, which I do not own. I just love the quote, and "Not Eatin'" speaks just as loud in this case ;) lol_


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